Jon Piccione got to sit back and watch as his competitors missed the green time and again Saturday evening.

The Bluffton resident was the 26th of 28 golfers to tee it up in Palmetto Electric Cooperative’s 11th annual Touchstone Energy Million Dollar Hole-in-One Shootout. He used that extra observation time to his advantage and drew his ball within 10 feet, 10 inches of the hole.

Piccione’s 7-iron shot was close enough for a first-place finish, earning him a $1,000 cash prize and a trip to play in a pro-am in Las Vegas in October.

The event’s $1 million grand prize, which goes to any golfer who holes out from 165 yards on his or her one attempt in the finals, went unclaimed for the 11th consecutive year. The first player to make a hole-in-one also would have received a BMW convertible.

“I was pretty calm,” said Piccione, 32, an Old South employee and competitive amateur golfer. “You’ve just got to be relaxed and trust in what you’re doing.”

It was the second shootout victory for Piccione, who won the 2009 event by placing his shot within 12 feet of the hole, he recalled. That year, he was the second-to-last player to hit.

“That gave me some good experience,” said Piccione, who moved from New Jersey to Bluffton with his family in 1994.

Piccione was one of 450 golfers who entered, according to Palmetto Electric officials. He said he failed to qualify Friday, but he returned to the course Saturday and was one of the last players to make the finals.

Piccione’s shot was easily the closest to the pin, as many contestants failed to reach the green with the wind blowing toward them as they shot from the fifth fairway.

Dan Utley finished second with a distance of 18 feet, 5 inches and Bluffton’s Paul Griz was third at 26 feet, 9 inches. Brad Folsom was fourth at 35 feet, 11 inches and Bruce Carroll was fifth at 36 feet, 10 inches. Those four players won rounds of golf at area courses.

Griz was joined in the finals by his 9-year-old son Jonathan, who hit his qualifying shot within 3 inches Saturday. Jonathan’s final attempt, from 50 yards longer than in the qualifier, landed 65 feet, 2 inches from the hole.

Jay Huberthy of Hilton Head Island won the putting contest, earning a round for four at the Club at Savannah Harbor and a new sand wedge.

Proceeds from the event will go to Bright Ideas, a program that provides grants to southern Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton county teachers to fund special classroom projects.

Jimmy Baker, Palmetto Electric’s vice president of marketing and public relations, said the shootout raised more than $12,000 for the program and that Bright Ideas will grant more than $32,000 in funding to teachers this fall.

“We surprise them in the classroom,” Baker said. “It’s kind of a neat concept. All the money stays right here in our schools.”